My summary of Texans OTAs, Minicamp

Moran Norris at Minicamp Tryout: I wonder if his wallet has any nickname on it. /Pulp Fiction reference

Texans OTAs, Minicamp are done. Training camp doesn’t start until the end of July. After attending all the sessions, here are my note about the off-season to date:

Offense:

Quarterback. As I said in an earlier post, I have no reason to doubt the Texans’ public statements that Matt Schaub will be ready for training camp. TJ Yates has received a ton of first string snaps which is great preparation for a backup. John Beck looks like he knows how to read the defenses, and is getting a lot of work on technique things. Case Keenum appears to have significantly improved between the start of OTAs and the end of minicamp.

Wide Receivers. Andre Johnson getting an off-season knee scope was a surprise. Even so, better for them to take care of things now than later. I’m not sure how much Johnson would have participated in these workouts even without the knee issue. I think the Texans are trying to be careful with some of their more experienced players in the off-season to save them for the regular season.

I know there’s been dire predictions in some quarters about Johnson due to his age and his leg issues last year, but I wouldn’t be one to bet against him having a solid season.

I know that some people are agitating for a replacement to lunch pail, do his job, Kevin Walter. Given all the changes on the offense from last year to this year, I don’t think Gary Kubiak has an appetite for introducing a lot more new guys to this offense.

Yeah, it would be nice to have a huge playmaking option as a number 2 wide receiver, but Kubiak would settle for dependable, not screwing up, good hands, move the chains guy. That might not be a flashy, fantasy football point of view, but this offense thrives on guys who catch anything in their vicinity, run their routes right, block downfield for running.

Wide receiver 3, 4, 5 is wide open. With all the inexperienced options for the Texans at those spots, this is going to be a matter of who survives camp in one piece, learns the playbook the fastest, screws up the least. The drafted players have an advantage because they are drafted, but no starting jobs are going to be handed to anyone. During the off-season OTAs and minicamp sessions, no one guy really stood out as, “Oh, yeah, that’s the guy.”

Offensive Line. The right side of the offensive line is being replaced with the departures of RT Eric Winston and RG Mike Brisiel. Gary Kubiak has talked about RT Derek Newton and RG Brandon Brooks pushing Rashad Butler and Antoine Caldwell for spots respectively, but it’s hard to imagine both of the inexperienced guys getting starting minutes right away. In the off-season, there’s been pre-snap issues with the inexperienced guys on the line, and Brooks in particular has had problems dealing with the heat.

Tight End/Fullback. I’ve seen some pretty outsized predictions for James Casey going into this upcoming year. Kubiak has said he is going to have a similar role to what he had at the beginning of last year in the Swiss-Army knife role of tight end/fullback/wide receiver. He will likely get more opportunities at tight end with the departure of Joel Dreessen as the number 2 TE.

I’m not sure with as many targets as the Texans have on offense, and in particular with Owen Daniels as number 1 TE, that Casey would be in the position for a consistent, huge number of targets in what the Texans do. Will say that this off-season he looks predictably sharp, catching most everything.

The Texans depend on the fullback much more than most teams in the league. Not for every snap but for the crucial short yardage ones. They want short yardage to be automatic. Perhaps newly signed Moran Norris takes the Lawrence Vickers’ role for this season.

A vet like Houston-native Norris could make sense with an offense that will have to depend on a lot of inexperienced players. Biggest strike against him is age, wear and that he makes more money than young guys at his position.

Running Back. Arian Foster. Ben Tate. Likely Justin Forsett as number 3. I’m good with that. (Let’s wrap them in bubble wrap for the start of the season, shall we?)

Nice thing with Forsett as a 3 is he can be a number 3 running back on the roster and also do the return role. It would be good not to have to rely on an offensive or defensive starter for returns given injury risks and fatigue.

If the Texans defense is anything like last year, the #2 and #3 running backs could see some time because ideally Gary Kubiak wants to get a nice fat lead and then keep running it in the second half.

Former Texan Steve Slaton was originally drafted as a change of pace back for the offense. And he got pushed into an every down back role because he became the only option due to injury ahead of him. Perhaps Forsett can have the role that was originally envisioned for Slaton.

Defense.

Defensive Line. Pretty much the same guys as last year. Not much of note other than Shaun Cody was rested alternative days as a more experienced player.

Linebacker. So, ILB Brian Cushing sat out a couple of days with knee tenderness of some sort. Not so bad that he couldn’t participate the last day of OTAs. Cushing has never missed a regular season game due to injury. And he’s played at a high level in the past even despite missing practice time. Even so, he is such a key part of the Texans defense, it is hard not to be concerned when he misses time.

Defensive coordinator Wade Phillips couldn’t say enough positive things about new Texans ILB Bradie James. Very charismatic guy, knows the defense better than the rest of the defensive players. Will be interesting to see the transition on the defense without the calming, respected, reasoned leadership training wheels of DeMeco Ryans. Can’t tell until you see it on the field.

How about the biggest drafted addition, Whitney Mercilus? Looks the part, coaches say good things and aren’t dogging him at all. So guessing he’s on the right track but no real pass rushing in shorts.

Secondary. I spent more time watching the new wide receivers work than the secondary players. On 7 on 7s, didn’t see anyone look particularly lost or out of place.

Special Teams.

Punting. Brett Hartmann is working out on side field recovering from ACL tear. Not punting. And with a three game suspension next year. Donnie Jones had a difficult 2011, but has had some success in recent years. I would think using Jones and then switching back to Hartmann coming off of injury would be weird.

Field Goals. Kubiak has made it clear that the Texans will have a new kicker but not necessarily a rookie kicker. For most of the off-season, the kickers haven’t done a lot in front of the team, media. On the last day of minicamps, Shayne Graham put on an exhibition of kicking, making even long kicks with plenty of room to spare. Rookie Randy Bullock, not so much.

Training camp will give more opportunities for pressure kicks, but if I had to say right now, Graham has an advantage because he’s played actual games before, looked very impressive.

Your Turn.

That’s at least an overview of the Texans off-season to date. Any thing you wish me to discuss that I didn’t, or in more depth? The off-season is long, but commenting makes it feel shorter. Really.

There will be training camp session available for viewing by the public starting at the end of July beginning of August. I’ve heard tickets will become available for that from the Texans website starting sometime around the second week of July.